Sweet Dreams – 06

Chapter Six: Of grease and vivid dreams

WHAP!

"Ouch!...aw crud..."

Casey pulled out from under the hood of the van and rubbed the back of his head where it hit, spreading oil all over his already greasy hair. It was no use him tinkering around with the engine for hours; he had no idea what was wrong with it anyways.

He spent most of the morning digging up all the mud around the tires and as soon as he had jumped in and tried to start it up so he could move the vehicle, nothing happened. It was dead. The battery was fine, oil was fine, had lots of gas in it, everything seemed to be hunky dory. It was really pissing him off.

"Case, what the hell are ya doin'? Why have ya got the hood up?"

Casey ignored Raph and dove back under.

The turtle scowled and walked closer to the man, sticking his head under also.

"Hey bone head! Ya deaf or somethin!?"

"Obviously if I've got the hood up somethin's wrong with the engine!" The man yelled.

"What did ya do? Ya were only supposed to dig around the tires."

"I didn't do anything! I dug them out and I tried to turn this piece of crap on so I could move it but the engine won't start!"

"Alright, jeez. Don't get yer whitey tighties in a knot."

The ninja ducked as a wrench was thrown at him.

"If you're so smart, why don't you try and fix it." Casey grumbled while pulling his head back out. He wiped the oil off his hands with a rag and threw it on top of the engine.

"I'm goin' back inside." He grumbled, marching off towards the house. He wasn't going to bust his butt and not be appreciated for it. He doubted Raph could fix it anyways; the turtle was no better than he was, no matter how much he thought it or said it. No, Raph would come crawling back inside whining and complaining because he couldn't fix the engine, and then Don would have to go fix it. This however didn't bother him because he knew that the purple clad ninja was actually smarter than him. Plus he wasn't cocky about it.

He kept his head down and watched the grass flatten under his boots with every step he took. He decided he might mow the grass later, for something to do. It was two feet high and probably was home to a bunch of snakes. They were going to be at this house for a while anyways, might as well make it more enjoyable. Maybe fixing a few leaky spots on the roof wasn't a bad idea either...then he could tackle the broken window in the kitchen...

He kept think of all the different things he could unleash his handy man powers on, and in the process he almost completely missed the rake that was laying on the ground in front of him. He did a quick little rabbit hop over it so he didn't step on it and turned to the rather large pile of leaves in front of the back porch. Obviously someone raked them. He strode over and peered into the middle of the pile where he was surprised to see a shell.

He stared at it and cocked his head to the side; it looked like Mikey's shell...was he sleeping in the pile?

Casey watched closely for the rise and fall of the turtle's body to confirm if he was awake or not. But it was totally still. He smirked and bent down next to him.

"SPIDER!!!!!"

He barely had time to move before the ninja practically flung himself away from the leaves with a squawk, clutching his throat and gasping like he had been depraved of oxygen for a long time.

It was seriously the best reaction he had ever received. So much that he almost forgot about his anger. He held his ribs in pain and shook the last few chuckles out of him. "Mike, calm done, there's no spider."

He expected to be yelled at, thrown a dirty glare and maybe even kicked in between the legs, but after a few seconds he began to wonder if the turtle was even paying attention to him. Mikey hadn't so much as glanced in his direction.

The turtle looked absolutely panic stricken, and couldn't seem to catch his breath, this worried the man. He was going to say something but Mikey turned his frightened eyes upon the leaves and he snapped out of his daze. He grabbed the nearest thing to him, which was the rake, and then started beating the shit out of the pile.

This reaction was certainly un-expected.

Casey watched as Mikey wheezed in his effort to pummel his make-shift bed. "Mike, what the hell are ya doin?" He didn't get an answer. He was completely ignored. He scowled. "MIKE!"

That seemed to get the ninja's attention. He glanced over to his human friend then threw the rake roughly on the pile. 'THERE'S SOMETHING IN THERE!" He screeched.

"Um, I said I was only joking about the spider bro'. You know, haha?"

Mikey gave him a confused look. "What spider!? Casey, something tried to KILL me!"

It was Casey's turn to look confused. "Whaaaa...?"

"I was just lying in the pile of leaves, minding my own business, when an ugly, dead arm flew up and grabbed my arm! Then a whole bunch of arms grabbed me and tried to pull me down into the ground! Didn't you see them!?"

The man shook his head. "Um, when I found you, you were fast asleep face down. There were no arms holding onto you."

Mikey's eyes widened in disbelief. "I thought that's why you yelled! Because you were trying to get them to let go! THEY WERE CHOKING ME!"

That made sense as to why the turtle had been clutching his throat, so out of breath, Casey thought. "Bro', you must have been dreamin'." He stated simply.

The turtle stopped and thought about it. He had had very vivid dreams before...is that what this was? But it couldn't be! "If it was only a dream, then why do I feel like I was choked?"

Casey shrugged. "Well, you were sleeping face down. You were probably smothering yourself."

"But this didn't feel like smothering. I actually felt hands around my throat, like my wind pipe was squished!"

"That is weird...well, maybe you did it to yourself while sleeping."

The orange clad looked at him like he was nuts. "Why the shell would I choke myself in my sleep? Besides, I don't even remember falling asleep! I lied down in the pile, hands grabbed me and pulled me into the leaves, then...I don't remember...I must have blacked out..."

Casey wasn't really paying attention anymore, he was staring back at the van where Raph was, so he didn't hear the last part. "Whatever, I think it was just a really vivid dream. Let' go inside."

Mikey scowled at him as he turned and walked up the porch steps and disappeared inside the house. The ninja glanced back at the leaves wearily and shivered slightly.

He subconsciously lifted a hand to his neck and gently ran his fingers along it. He gave a slight prod to the skin and winced. It was tender. His hand dropped to his side and his brow creased with worry. If it really was only a dream...I shouldn't be feeling this.

He shook his head and decided to forget about it for now, no use in getting himself

worked up over a dream. He spun around and bounded up the steps, smiling as he

grabbed the rusted door handle and pulled it open. The kitchen welcomed him silently and he noticed Donnie and April were at the table, bent over Don's laptop.

His smile formed into a grin and he quietly walked up behind them, peering over their shoulders and locking his gaze on the screen. "Soooo, what're we looking at here?"

The two computer whizzes rotated their heads to give him an exasperated look.

"What does it look like we're doing?" Don asked, his voice showing hints of irritation.

Mikey shrugged. "I dunno, that's why I asked."

The purple clad sighed and faced the laptop again. April smiled. "We're trying to find some information on this house, you know, when it was built and by who."

The sea-green ninja nodded in understanding. "Any luck?"

"Unfortunately, no. There's nothing on the net at all. We figure it must have been built so long ago, that nobody has a record of it anymore."

"Whoa. That's old."

Don shook his head. "If I had the technology like I do back home, I could do a wider search...hack into some systems, you know?"

Mikey put his arm on his brother's shoulder and tsked. "Donnie, what have we said about hacking into other peoples systems?" He sighed dramatically. "This is becoming a bad habit of yours, curse Leo for encouraging it."

The olive turtle shoved his brother off. "Go bug Raph." He ordered, typing something else into the internet search bar.

"Gladly."

"Don't even think about it!"

The three turned towards the growly voice and watched as Raph entered, slamming the door behind him. His face was covered in grease.

"Jeez, Raph, if you wanted to play with make-up, why didn't you ask April to borrow hers? Although, I gotta admit, that grease does compliment your skin tone."

"SHUT UP MIKEY!"

April covered her mouth and tried not to giggle. "What happened Raph?"

The red clad ninja turned his death glare onto her and snarled like an angry wild cat who's tail just got pulled. "That fuckin' van, is a piece of SHIT!"

Don frowned and opened his mouth to protest at his brother's language, but Leo's

voice traveled down from upstairs first. "Watch your language Raphael!"

Raph looked up at the ceiling and growled. "Fuck you!"

Mikey snorted and pulled out a chair from the table and sat down crossing his legs and slouching down comfortably. "Oh, is that grease from the van? Dude, what did you DO to it?"

"I didn't do a damned thing! Casey's the one who screwed it up! The engine don't work anymore! It's completely fried!"

"How on earth did Casey fry the engine?" Don asked in annoyance. He closed his laptop and stood up from the table, walking over to the kitchen sink so he could peer out the window and look at the vehicle. "He was only supposed to dig the tires out to we could drive out of here."

"I know! But somehow he fucked it up, and when I tried to figure out what was wrong, the stupid thing spat grease in my face!"

Mikey giggled and Raph whipped his head at him. "What the hell are ya laughing at!?" he yelled, clenching his fists threateningly.

The youngest smirked. "You."

Raph snapped. He crouched down getting ready to pounce on the other turtle, but Mikey was already flying from the room.

Don groaned and rubbed at his temples. "We really don't need a repeat of this morning." He murmured, causing April to laugh. "I'm going out to the van to see what I can do, and also to avoid the upcoming smack down."

"I'll come with you." April offered. "We can take up our research later. Some fresh air would be nice." He stood of from her chair and zipped up her yellow hoodie, shoving her hands inside the pockets. "You know, even after we fix the van, I think we should spend our vacation here, it's such a nice and peaceful atmosphere."

Donnie nodded and gave her a smile. "It is, isn't it? I definitely wouldn't mind vacationing here. I just wish Mikey and Raph could stay out in the shed."

She laughed again. "And Casey too."

The two walked to the door and exited the kitchen, leaving it quiet and empty. The air moving around the room seemed to quiver ever so slightly, that you wouldn't notice unless you were really paying attention. The vibration continued, moving along the floor, over the table and through the chairs, across the ceiling and then in front of the window. If you were looking straight ahead at the shivering air, you wouldn't be able to see. But in the window above the sink, just as the air moves past it, a dark shadow appears. It's only there for a second, vanishing as soon as the air passes by. Everything is still.

TBC…

Oh my, how very strange, and creepy! Please Review! Let me know what you think, and even if you have ideas or guesses about what the next chapter shall contain! Peace out guys!

~Chizu